Soon it will be that most ‘wonderful’ time of the year. Psycho Bunny thinks otherwise. He’s just barely recovered from Halloween. Where did all the time go? The year was passing him fast while he was getting his beer. Doesn’t even notice Krampus creeping up behind him.

Introducing the Psycho Bunny sketch of the week.

Where did the time go? Soon the holiday season will be here. Psycho Bunny isn’t happy. Based on the comic book written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo on WitchesBrewPress. Nov. 2018.

(Don’t forget to order my Krampus greeting cards! Not at Catland currently but always available online. $3.00 plus S&H. Please send an email to Witchipoo@witchesbrewpress.net to inquire and purchase. PayPal accepted.)

You probably heard the news. Yesterday Stanley Martin Lieber passed away at age 95. The world knows him better as Stan ‘The Man’ Lee.

While with Marvel comics, Stan Lee collaborated with various artists. Among some of those artists were Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. During Lee’s tenure at Marvel he worked on numerous titles. You might’ve heard of a few: Spider-Man, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, Black Panther, Thor, Ironman, and countless others. These various titles became many of the staples within the Marvel legacy.

After Lee retired from Marvel, he continued to stay in the spotlight. During 2006 and 2007, he hosted a reality show on the Sci-Fi Channel, now known as Syfy. It was titled Who Wants To Be A Superhero. As someone who usually hates reality shows, I absolutely adored season one. Later I got to meet the winner Feedback and runner-up Fat Momma. The contestant I was personally rooting for was Major Victory. Hugging him was one of my highlights during NYCC 2007.

I’ve had enough of death lately (personal reasons). So with that I’ll leave you with my tribute to Stan Lee. My second tribute which included Spider-Man, when Steve Ditko passed away a few months prior. He’s with Spider-Man, superhero from Forest Hills, Queens. Queens being my hometown. Excelsior!

There’s a reason why I’m posting this sketch. Mind you, it’s not one of my best. Then again as of this posting, I’m sick at home with serious flu.

A few days, a local DJ from the Goth/Post Punk scene passed away. The news has come to a shock among many. He had been battling depression.

In various subculture scenes, those within the communities tend to eat their own. You have to swim against the sharks, the leeches, the bottom feeders. However, Alex Von Nihil was different. He was funny, kind, sincere, non pretentious sort of person. He was a resident DJ at the Pyramid Club during it’s No Return Post Punk Society parties. Alex was also an established DJ at many other parties. While I didn’t know him well, it was obvious that music was one of his true loves.

NYC Goth DJ Alex VOn Nihil.

On Facebook Alex was the guy who always tried to make others laugh. In private who knows what he was feeling inside. During the holiday season last year in 2017, I dropped by the Pyramid after attending a company Christmas party. He came down from his DJ station, went straight up to me, and gave me the sweetest bear hug. It surprised me a tiny bit, but I knew that his hug came from the heart. Never forgot that.

NYC Goth DJ Alex VOn Nihil spinning at The Pyramid Club for the No Return Post Punk Society parties.

The last time I saw him in person was at Brooklyn Bizarre for the Clan of Xymox concert. Which ironically I blogged about earlier this year.

Alex gave the impression that he loved to make others giggle. He wasn’t without friends. They had this inside joke: “that’s burnt.” Oh, and Alex was a fan of pineapple pizza. Which leads to the sketch. No matter how unappetizing the pizza looks, this sketch is for him. Besides. Pineapple on pizza really isn’t bad. So in an underground scene where you come across users, losers and creeps, Alex was genuine.

As of this post, today is the last day of Inktober 2018. If I do another Inktober sketch, it’ll be posted tomorrow. Technically, I did draw everyday in the month of October. Not everything was Inktober related. It’s okay. As they say, there’s always next year.

Forgot about Inktober 2018 prompt # 12 – whale. So I included the first two that popped into my mind. Fudgie The Whale, that Carvel ice cream cake, and a narwhal.

I had a friend who loved narwhals. Even did a narwhal art postcard for her. We fell out when I didn’t want to take part of a collaboration. It was a silly joke band called The Conscientious Gasbags. Outsider music with twisted lyrics. The lyrics were good. I had some of the equipment. Imagine if Big Black meets Shonen Knife. That’s what we were aiming for. Last year scheduling was tight. I had just moved out of a ten year residence, completing school, working, and working on my art. Wasn’t even time to do my Psycho Bunny sketch of the week. I had no extra time to spare. Something had to give, and it was the band. So I informed her of my decision.

She didn’t take the news very well.

When I broke the news to her in a diplomatic manner, this is what she said:

“Don’t ever speak to me again. Do not contact me in any way, shape, or form.”

So seven years of friendship meant nothing to her. It hurt. On top of that, she even managed to turn another ‘friend’ against me. This was all because I didn’t want to do that project with her. So I went ahead, deleting anything on social media that I set up relating to the band. It was really extreme on her part, but if I was going to be treated like public enemy number one, so be it. It wasn’t the first time a former friend turned against me. It still hurt. It was also very unnecessary.

Six months later, I found out on Facebook she had died.

I didn’t gloat in her passing. Instead, the whole thing was just sad. I mourned silently. In her honor, I went to Sweet Jane’s. It’s a neighborhood bar that I had taken her to when she visited me in NYC. She loved that place. So as I was toasting to her life, I was with another good friend. My friend was comforting me, telling me that Julie’s spirit was here and Julie forgave me. Afterwards we proceeded to get a little too drunk. Oops.

Still have Julie’s book of poetry, the skull jewelry boxes she gave me, and assorted accessories. Most of all, I still have the memories. Will leave it at that.

With death comes forgiveness.

Geez. Didn’t mean to turn this Inktober entry into a candid post, but hey.

Anyway. Back to the Inktober sketch. Along with the grumpy narwhal is Fudgie The Whale. Fugdie is an iconic character from Carvel’s line of ice cream cakes. My mother, who also passed away in 2015, used to get me an annual ice cream cake for my birthday during my childhood. It was very late ’70s/early ’80s thing to do while growing up in the outer boroughs of NYC. The Beastie Boys’ debut single was a tune called Cookie Puss.

The sketch itself. Not one of my best. Kinda looks like a rush job, which is kinda sorta was. The story behind this goes as this. It’s the narwhal’s birthday. While other narwhals are happy, this one is a cantankerous sort of creature. Worse of all, this grumpy narwhal is miffed that his birthday cake happens to be Fudgie The Whale. Thus Inktober 2018 prompt 12, whale.

It must be some kind of hunting instinct. Many times she’s proudly meow as she carries one of my drawing pens in her mouth. Then as she claims herself victorious, she drops the pen on the floor. She’s also hid my pens inside slippers. It’s both annoying and cute. Annoying because it’s usually one of my good pens she swipes. Cute because I haven’t seen any other cat do this, and besides. Who can get mad at that face?

Continuing with the theme of Inktober 2018 prompts six, seven and eight is prompt number nine – precious. As always, Squeaky Squeakums is being precious. Even while she’s hording my precious art pens.

Still trying to catch up on the Inktober 2018 sketches. Revisiting a subject I’ve drawn before – Squeaky Squeakums.

Squeaky is a female tuxedo cat I adopted in 2009. She came from a household that basically had too many cats. The other cats would gang up on her. Poor Squeaky had to hide. In the meantime the other cats would steal her food, prevent her from using the litterbox, etc. By the time she was rescued, Squeaky was skin and bones. Both her fur and eyes were dull. Such a sad cat. She didn’t even have a proper name. As it turned out, Squeaky also needed major cat dental surgery – which her previous humans failed to inform us about. That wasn’t cool. After her dental operation though, Squeaky was a brand new cat. Now she’s quite vocal, friendly, and extremely loyal. She’s intelligent as well. Despite being a pen thief.

One thing she never did get over though, was lack of food. Squeaky has something known as “food panic.” She’ll eye your dinner like prey as you vainly try to eat your meal in peace. Therefore Squeaky must eat!

As I’m doing these Inktober sketches, it was time for prompt number six; drooling. So here’s an updated version. Titled ‘Squeaky’s Torment.’ It’s tormenting especially for her. For the time being, we had to ban Squeaky from human food scraps, as they’re not good for her overall health.

Don’t worry. I’ll get around to posting photos from NYCC very soon. In the meantime I’ve been catching up with Inktober sketches.

Now presenting Inktober 2018 sketch number four:

Think I kinda-sorta bend the rules for this Inktober sketch. The focus is on inking, regardless of whether it’s traditional or black and while. If color is to be added, it’s only a touch. Here three colors were added. However, the majority is still black ink.

The Inktober prompt for number four was ‘spell.’ Could’ve done a very esoteric piece, but that would’ve been too easy. Instead, I went with more of a folk magic tradition. Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs. The Pennsylvania Dutch had a tradition they brought with them when they immigrated from Germany. As they settled in the Berks, Lancaster and LeHigh counties, the word ‘hex’ may have derived from “hexafoo” or “witches’ foot.” While the neighboring Amish and Mennonites were more subdued in their aesthetics, the German settlers, now known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, hung their hex signs more like good luck charms. Some claim these hex signs are merely decorative. Others say these signs have talisman qualities. These signs which can be hung anywhere, are unique to that particular region. I brought a few reproductions of these hex signs from a rural Pennsylvania gift shop back in 2000. Didn’t get around to displaying them until maybe 2015. Unfortunately they’re back in storage again due to moving residences.

This rendition of a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign isn’t particularly accurate, but that’s okay. If this doesn’t fit into the prompt “spell“, the subject can always be revisited.